The story
National Gaucho Festival in General Madariaga
A three-day tradition festival in General Madariaga, Buenos Aires province, honoring gaucho horsemanship and rural culture since 1972. Provincially institutionalized in 1977 and declared a National Festival in 1988, it now draws an estimated 100,000 visitors for horsemanship competitions, folk music and craft stalls. The town, founded as a 1907 railway settlement and later renamed for General Juan Madariaga, calls itself 'ciudad gaucha' year-round, not just during the festival itself.
General Madariaga has called itself 'ciudad gaucha' since its gaucho festival began in 1972, sixteen years before the event was formally declared a National Festival in 1988; in between, the provincial government of Buenos Aires institutionalized it in 1977, giving the event official standing well ahead of its national recognition.